The Sweet Potato Recipes To Make This Thanksgiving (2024)

FAQs

What are the tips and tricks of sweet potatoes? ›

Selection and storage tips: Choose firm, small- to medium-sized potatoes with smooth skin. Avoid cracks, soft spots and blemishes. Choose sweet potatoes with a bright, uniform color. Store them in a cool, dark, dry place for use within two to three weeks or at room temperature for up to a week.

For Thanksgiving, I would use slightly less than one pound of sweet potatoes per person. As a side dish to a meal, I would plan on one pound per person.

While both yams and sweet potatoes are root vegetables, the taste of each is entirely unique. The orange-fleshed sweet potatoes tend to be much sweeter and creamier in texture compared to yams which have a white flesh that's starchier and more similar to a white potato.

One pound raw fresh sweet potatoes = 3 cups shredded, cubed or sliced = 1 3/4 cups cooked, mashed.

The cold water bath helps rinse the starch off the sweet potatoes so they're a bit more crispy. That said, if you do not have the time, you can still get crispy baked sweet potato fries by using high heat and a little drizzle of olive oil.

TIPS & TRICKS to Make this Recipe: The main secrets to achieving that incredible crispy texture, is to soak the cut sweet potatoes in cold water for at least 30 minutes. This helps remove the starch from the sweet potatoes so they´re not limp & soggy.

“A general guideline to estimating how many sweet potatoes you need when hosting friends or family for a meal is one medium sweet potato per person,” Burgess says, as if she's done this many times before.

When chopping sweet potatoes in advance, make sure to store them in cold water in the refrigerator. That said, if you're cooking sweet potatoes in advance, don't worry about the water. Cooked sweet potatoes do just fine when stored in an airtight container.

Use 1 medium sweet potato per person.

Yams have a unique taste, too. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are less sweet and much more starchy and dry. They also tend to have a good shelf life. However, certain varieties store better than others.

Which cooks faster yam or sweet potato? ›

Their tender leaves are a good cooked vegetable, too. Sweet potatoes cook more quickly than yams, are moister, and they taste distinctly sweet.

Although both veggies are very close in fiber, protein, vitamin C, and magnesium, sweet potatoes are the healthier option because they are lower in overall calories, lower in carbohydrates, and higher in beta carotene (vitamin A).

Canned sweet potatoes are typically cooked and packed with a syrup or sweetened liquid to enhance their flavor and preserve their texture. Rinsing can help reduce the amount of added sugars on the surface, but it won't significantly alter the nutritional composition.

There is not much difference between boiling sweet potatoes with the skins on versus peeling them, but you will get a boost of fiber and potassium if you keep the skin on. The skin also adds a subtle texture to each bite. If you're looking for a smoother mash, peel the potatoes first before boiling.

Sweet potatoes are planted in the spring and harvested in the fall. Sweet potatoes are great sources of vitamin A, vitamin C, beta carotene, fiber and potassium. Sweet potatoes can be white, yellow, red, purple or orange. The orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are sweeter than the other varieties.

Despite their sweet taste, these potatoes have an intermediate glycemic index (GI) level, meaning they are digested and absorbed fairly slowly, leading to a more gradual increase in blood sugar levels. But, a lot of these benefits, including nutrients and taste, can be lost by boiling sweet potatoes.